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Topic: KitchenAid 7 Quart Mixer (Read 8105 times)

Not necessarily for pizza dough. I have a Bosch Compact mixer that I use for my pizza dough and I'm very happy with it. I got rid of my old Artisan Tilt-Head KA because the Bosch is better for pizza dough, and it didn't match my remodeled kitchen colors. But with the holidays coming, I'm realizing I used it for a lot of other things and thinking of getting another KA. Seems like the 7 quart Pro Line model has great reviews, and is better quality (metal gears, quieter, much more power). Twice as much $, of course. Anyone have one and love/hate it? All feedback welcomed!

It seems like you can find an inordinate amount of reviews that have unhappy owners where they have failed mixers. When I was looking into more attachments for my wife's old fixed head 5 qt KA stand mixer (heavy duty home use model back in the mid 90's) I got cautions from a number of members about overloading it.

So, I started looking into alternatives like the 6 and 7 qt KA stand mixers negative experiences were noted on those as well. I have no idea if these failed from frequent use involving full bowls of low hydration dough or lower amounts. But given the expense of a big KA stand mixer, I just looked at other alternatives.

I looked at getting a Hobart N50 mixer, which is a 5qt but evidently built to be tough as nails. They run $2200-2400 ish new. I've seen them as low as around $500-600 for one that looks like it was from the industrial revolution timeframe. Given the cost, I eliminated this mixer for my limited use.

I looked at the bread machines like the Electrolux. Mixed reviews. Then found a lot of positive comments about the Bosch Universal Plus. That's what I ended up with. I haven't used it yet. I'm thinking of ordering the small bowl, since I normally do one or two pies worth for 12-14" pizzas.

Personally I love my KA. I've got the artisan tilt-head and I've got no complaints (so far), it will be 1 year old in December. As far as dough goes my batches have been around 450-550G and it's handled that just fine, I've even made a low hydration dough for bagels and it took that with no problems. From what I've read the attachments are a hit or miss - the ice cream bowl I bought churned out some amazing frozen custards but the meat grinder apparently spews ground metal shavings into whatever you're processing, I've got enough iron in my diet so I passed on that. I think for the price and what you'll use it for it's not a bad option, especially if you can use a 20% off BB&B coupon to bring the cost down.

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I have a KitchenAid Artisan 5 qt. I have never really liked it because it makes so much noise. Even on the lowest speed it makes this very annoying high pitched whine. At the higher speeds it's even more annoying. My dogs run out of the room when its running. I do use it but I don't like it. It does work pretty well but I wish it were quieter. I've never heard another one so maybe it is louder than it should be. Do others notice this problem?

Tin,No problem, but yes, my wife's K5SS lift bowl mixer makes the same straight-cut gear whine. My dogs don't care, but they are bird dogs that stand next a shotgun without flinching, lay in front of the vacuum cleaner until you bump them, etc. (but one of them jumps when my wife sneezes )

I have a KitchenAid Pro 600 (6 quarts). I like it a lot. I have seen some reviews that were quite positive and others complaining.

4 / 5 stars on Amazon (although that is general and not pizza specific).

Negatives:

I have noticed that if it has a heavy load and you start it (such as after a rest), it will groan a bit and not want to go unless you flip it up to a higher speed to get it going. I wish it was a tilt up type. That seems easier to use to move the bowl out and/or change the attachments

Positives (other than it has never failed me and seems to do a good job):

Attachments! I bought the KPRA Pasta attachment and it does a great job. There are other attachments, too.

I wish it was a tilt up type. That seems easier to use to move the bowl out and/or change the attachments

I have a model with a bowl lift, rather than a tilting head, and there's no way I'd trade it for a tilting-head model (even though I've had to get it refurbished because at least one of the gears stripped, which is a whole different topic). Stiff doughs can be the enemy of any mixer, but thanks to the bowl lift design, I've found a way to mix very stiff dough without worrying about killing the machine again. I'm not sure it's possible to make these stiff doughs with tilting-head mixers. Also, if I had a c-hook, as is standard with the tilting head mixers, it would drive me nuts. (I have a spiral hook.)

Disclaimer: Don't necessarily believe anything I say here. My brain ain't quite right anymore (unless it is). If I come off as rude or argumentative, that's probably not my intention. Rather, that's just me being honest, to myself and everyone else; partly because I don't have enough time left to BS either you or myself. If you are offended by anything I say, it's probably because you think lying to people (to be "polite") is a good idea. I don't.

I love my KA 7qt commercial mixer. It is pretty tuff and pretty quiet. Check out the video, kneading 8 280gram dough balls using caputo flour. I have made 10 280gram balls at one time and NO problems at all.

The Kitchenaid website addresses the hp issue with the following statement.

KitchenAid® NSF Certified® Commercial Series 8-Qt Bowl Lift Stand Mixer with 1.3 HP Motor1* *Motor horsepower for our mixer motors was measured using a dynamometer, a machine laboratories routinely use to measure the mechanical power of motors. Our 1.3 horsepower (HP) motor reference reflects the horsepower rating of the motor itself and not the mixer’s horsepower output to the mixer bowl. This robust motor, the backbone of our new mixer, delivers .44 HP to the bowl enabling your mixer to deliver consistent power to small and large loads with less heat build-up; resulting in years of dependable mixing. When combined with and guided by our new advanced motor control board, this is our longest lasting and most efficient motor yet. Simply put, our new, highly efficient, special purpose motor delivers the power you need when you need it.

In any case the price that Mmmph's link offers is really tempting. I wonder if this machine is really a more powerful, durable, commercial machine or mainly marketing.

Bbqchuck, I only use mixers for kneading bread dough and pizza dough, so I can't speak about general uses ( cookie dough, cakes, etc, ) but I have owned a Universal, a Concept ( like a Universal, but it has two different styles of hooks) and a Compact, and nothing beats the Compact for small dough balls, or high hydration, or both.

. I wonder if this machine is really a more powerful, durable, commercial machine or mainly marketing.

I thought I had read something that stated the motor in the larger unit was a worm drive as compared to gear driven. If that is the case then the worm drive IS definitely a much more dependable unit. I'm still searching my files for the info I had seen so at the moment take it for what it's worth.tom

I had to return a Bosch universal mixer after a week of use as it was not kneading the dough and was pain to clean. Decided to get KA 7qt mixer and have it since 2011. It is much better than Bosch. I use it almost every day. Making of 1500g bread flour of various hydration doughs for different products about 3-4 times a week. Mixer Manual says to use it on 2nd speed only for kneading the dough but the problem is that the dough does not develop gluten properly at 2nd speed. So I moved up with speeds like kneading 60-65 hydration doughs at 4-5 speed for 10-15 minutes and 65-80h at speed 8-10 for same time. At this speeds the mixer starts walking around and you have to baby sit it during this time. I also mix 40% hydration dough for 5 minutes at speed 1 but after the dough getters as a ball then the mixer starts struggling and I stop it. Due to this mixing types I recently saw a crack line by the cylinder. Motor still works fine at all speeds. I called KA and explained them the problem as I knew I had a2years warranty but it turned out that I actually have 5 years instead of two which is really amazing. They will send a new unit with return label to send back the old one. KA costumer service was amazing as I got someone on the phone directly right away. Now I started thinking to sell KA and get more powerful mixer like Hobart n50 or other but with the price and size it looks not practical and also looks like it is not quite good for dough making. Most likely I will keep the KA mixer. It is exceptionally good at whipping eggs and mixing cake batters. Overall I really happy with the mixer and KA service. I do not think the other KA mixers mixer like 600, professional series are as good as 7 and 8 qt onesI think my mixer experience and story helps you to make you decision.

Using the stainless steel bowl with the hooks on the bottom makes a huge huge difference with the Bosch. I bought a Bosch about six months ago and was quite unhappy with the way it performed with the center column bowl. So I bought a used ss bowl on eBay and am quite happy with the way it works now with the hooks on the bottom. I had a KA before, and I still prefer the way it kneads, and it's certainly better for small batches. But I can now make six dough balls of 20 ounces apiece at one time in the Bosch, which I would never have been able to do in the KA. It's also nice that the Bosch has suction cups on the bottom and doesn't walk all over the counter, like the KA does. So I can start it and go do other things. Most importantly, it's nice that I don't have to worry as much about burning out the engine or the worm gear, which is what happened with my KA after a few too many heavy doughs, and is what reportedly happens to almost every KA eventually if you make a lot of bread and pizza.

I read the Cooks Illustrated review and found it interesting but flawed. It gave the Bosch a poor review, but, crucially, they didn't take into account that (1) the Bosch works much better with the stainless steel bowl, (2) it works better if you make big batches and there's really no reason not to, since you can always freeze the unusued portion, and (3) the Bosch probably won't burn out like the KAs will. So while the KA might perform better for a brief product review test, it sucks to have to install a new worm gear, or even buy a new motor, every few years.

I never tried Bosch with stainless bowl but seeing some you tube videos it still does not look to me a professional dough mixer and I can not comment on longevity and durability of BUM as I only owned it for a few weeks but I was not impressed with the results. The dough came out runny and still sticky after "kneeding" it for 15 or more minutes and it does not looked a dough ball at all. 7qt KA kneads the dough better but only does it on high steeds by kind of slapping the dough on the walls. But unfortunately KA is not strong enough and not designed to run on high speeds when kneading the dough that's why it cracked (pic below) after heavy use. I will get replacement from KA as I sad earlier but still looking for not quite perfect but strong and small mixer that is specially designs to kneed deferent types of dough like the commercial mixers do. I narrowed my search down to Hobart N50 and globe SP8. Unfortunately and surprisingly there are not quite comprehensive reviews and videos about these mixer showing and describing how they handle the doughs not in this site and in other places on the net. I would like to see other members with Hobart or globe to take their time and comment on this thread to help us make right choice. Or I think the only way is to try it and see and experiment but of coarse you have to pay price for it.

Sartanely, what types of dough are you trying to mix? The Bosch Universal Plus can have issues with small amounts, or high hydration ( say 80% ) . Another one to look into is the The Ankarsrum Original Mixer. aka the Assistent. There are not a lot of reviews on it, but it got some pretty favorable reviews on Amazon as an industrial type machine - though it is designed for home use, it is pretty pricey.

Is this the one you mentioned http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=blsIbsgGhSA. Do you think it is kneading the dough? I think it just mixes the flour with water. Kneading is deferent procces and from the clip it seams to me that it just spins the dough around rather than kneading it.The highest amount I mix is 5lb flour. Mostly of the time it is 4lb. As I mentioned I have to knead 40-80% hydration doughs. I mean knead not just mix and spin around. Most likely I will go with used Hobart n50 because of my limited space in kitchen. But still would like to see other Hobart owners here to comment about n50's dough kneading abilities and durability. A video clip would be very helpful. By the way my new KA is for sale on eBay is someone is interestedhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/181241926368?redirect=mobile